*** Bedhead Loved Macha

MACHA LOVED BEDHEAD

(Jetset)

Here's an interesting premise: two pairs of brothers grow up together in Wichita Falls, Texas, and form their first band in high school. After graduation, they go their separate ways, with each pair of siblings subsequently forming its own acclaimed indie outfit. They all remain friends, and one day, with their hearts set on collaborating, Bedhead bro's Matt and Bubba Kadane (now based in Dallas) mail a tape of half-finished songs (mostly guitars and drums) to Macha's Joshua and Mischo McKay (now based in Athens), who then flesh out the melodies with an array of instruments like vibraphone, zither, and hammered dulcimer.

How good is the result? Well, let's just say that the US Postal Service is two-for-two when it comes to recent collaborative projects (last year, Tara Key and Rick Rizzo also had success with this stamp-licking approach when they made Dark Edson Tiger.) Although one might not expect Bedhead's hushed minimalism to jibe with the more far-flung impulses and exotically embroidered worlds Macha are given to conjuring, in both the former's slowcore majesty and the latter's avant, Indonesian-spiced trance pop, atmosphere is everything, so this meeting of the minds does make sense. This is hazy, undulating music that sounds and feels like a beautiful mirage. The cool part is that it's real. In fact, the grand, swirling expanse of "Hey Goodbye" (which reads something like a farewell, since Bedhead split up before the disc's completion) and the magnificent momentum of "You and New Plastic" suggest a supergroup whose brotherly intuition is matched only by their collective capacity for the sublime.

-- Jonathan Perry